Safety In Schools

The recent shootings at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas are among the worst in U.S. history. It’s traumatic to consider the details even from afar yet it’s not “unthinkable” or “unimaginable” as some have said because we’ve seen this before.

I don’t often write blog posts in first person because this blog is about helping others rather than brand building. I’ve seen and heard discussion about the tragic shootings in Uvalde and I felt I might contribute by offering some notes. I sincerely hope this is helpful…

Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas

Initially, I thought to offer some resources such as those curated into a collection on the “School Safety by Design” web page of the American Institute of Architects. Reading through some of the information made me nostalgic.

I attended an all-boys Catholic high school which enforced a dress code that included wearing a tie every day. While many students would have happily left their ties at home, I didn’t notice as much complaining about not being allowed book bags. I eventually recognized this simple rule all but eliminated weapons and other contraband in the school. Times have changed and we’re now concerned about external threats to schools.

In the course of my work as an architect, I’ve had to incorporate security concerns into designs for higher-education schools, postal facilities, courthouses, government laboratories, prisons (juvenile + adult), etc. It’s tempting to think a design solution for any situation can be developed though we must remember the cost to the occupants.

In her article “How Architecture and Design Can Hinder Active Shooters”, author Mimi Kirk notes that public mass shootings are extremely rare. She’s right, though mass shootings are traumatic and impactful, even when only experienced through news coverage.

She notes some design elements that could make a difference though they’re often hardening tactics like limiting the number of ways into a building and using doors that will withstand assault. It’s possible to design buildings to withstand almost any threat.

The Feeling of Facilities
In my commercial work, I compiled an inventory of cell conditions for the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice. I traveled to facilities across the state and the result was an enormous and detailed spreadsheet of every cell and facility presented to the Department to help them better assess how to protect children in their care.

For me, the results were sobering to say the least. Seeing children in that environment is something that I’ll never forget.

I think of those conditions when I hear people outraged over what they think are obvious fixes for school security. For example, the Uvalde, Texas shooter is said to have hopped a four-foot-tall fence so people suggest part of the fix is obviously taller fences.

I feel like I’ve toured and inventoried the result of taller fences, access control, ballistic doors and the like. It doesn’t matter how much bright paint or daylight we put into facilities that elevate security to the highest priority. The security becomes the defining characteristic that affects all routines and the health of occupants.

Think of the change in routine caused when security was added to airports. For those of us old enough to remember, airports were about the fascinating machines seen nowhere else, the promise of new travel experiences and the excitement of homecomings. We could walk through the airport to wait at the gate for the arrival of loved ones.

Airports have lost much of that magic in exchange for security protocols. While that became necessary, travel today can feel more about navigating security than the grand experience of travel. I don’t mean to demonize air travel. I just think about air travel as an example of the change in the learning experience for children if we focus on access control and hardening our schools.

Just One Room
Twenty-six lives were taken in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and twenty-one lives were taken at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Given the way we divide students into classrooms, an attacker only has to enter one school room to cause that much damage.

That seems to be what happened in Robb Elementary School - the shooter was able to access and lock himself into one school room. The tactics of hardening a school can mean the students are trapped with their attacker. The result is the attacker is essentially protected from law enforcement by the same design that was intended to protect the students.

I agree that there seem to be some obvious options to address safety incidents in schools. Door hardware (locking systems) that can be easily operated by law enforcement is an example. One reason given for the delay in officers entering the Uvalde school was they were waiting for keys. We will see if this was actually the case as details emerge.

Another solution appears to be discrete video surveillance of all spaces so law enforcement can remotely view and respond to safety threats. This would include determining the threats and ways to safely evacuate students away from those threats.

Better surveillance may not deter someone determined to engage in a mass shooting event though it may speed up response time and save occupant and law enforcement lives during those events. It could also help deter less harmful behaviors in the same way obvious surveillance placed by the police helps deter crime.

Think of a coordinated system in which officers on site and en route to a school property communicate with a control center capable of monitoring conditions throughout a school via surveillance. Some modern schools already have these measures in place.

Weakness Easily Observed or Created
The security weaknesses of any building can be assessed by simple observation. They are obvious to students who attend day after day and obvious to the casual observer. Even hardened buildings can be weakened - such as someone propping open a security door for convenience or someone purposefully opening a door to provide unauthorized access.

Buildings are fixed elements not easily changed once constructed. I believe we can implement design strategies that might give children, teachers and law enforcement defense against bad actors who enter schools though the best solution is going to come from people supported by good design.

I feel the only way to address the threat of mass shootings in schools is with additional, trained security staff on school properties. Buildings can help delay a person or people acting against a school though they can’t be proactive - they can’t see a threat coming. Only people can do that.

I feel I should mention that I don’t advocate for armed teachers. Teachers should be empowered to focus on the vocation for which they have trained and dedicated their lives. We should leave security in schools to trained and carefully coordinated security teams for the same reason prison guards don’t carry lethal weapons when working in prison populations. Teachers have a job on which they must focus and that work cannot be done well if they’re constantly distracted with threat assessment.

In Conclusion
A significant part of our effort to deal with violence will have to include a candid discussion about mental health and gun safety. I’m happy to see Georgia taking significant action this year to address mental health. I hope it will be a precedent built upon in every coming year and I hope it will foster discussions about how to protect our students.

Mass shooters are determined. Hardening targets will drive them to find other opportunities. We’ve seen examples of this which imply the need for a discussion about access to and ownership of guns.

Owning a gun is a right that should be considered a privilege because that privilege can be lost. I hope we’ll have more public discussions about gun owners securing their firearms and the nexus of mental health with public safety.

Please leave a comment below to share your thoughts on this issue. We’d like to know what you think and what question(s) you’d like answered.

Sincerely,
Ryan

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